Nick Jonas: 'My relationship with God is the most important thing'

DANIEL TOROK/AP/Press Association Images

Pop star Nick Jonas has confessed that he no longer wears his purity ring, but his belief in God "is still very strong".

Asked whether he still wears the promise ring – which signifies a pledge to abstain from sex until marriage – the former Jonas Brother replied: "No, this is a real growth in me and that's not something I'm doing anymore, but I've got my set of values – things that are important to me now at this point in my life – and that's all that matters."

Jonas and his two older brothers, Joe and Kevin, rose to fame in the mid 2000s and gained popularity through the Disney Channel.

Nick, son of an Assemblies of God minister, has famously had relationships with both Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez. Together with his brothers, he was often vocal about his Christian faith.

"Our faith is really important to us and it's a big thing in everything we do," the 22-year-old once told Fox News.

"To us the [purity] rings are a constant reminder to live a life of values. It's about being a gentleman, treating people with respect and being the best guys we can be," he added in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine.

But despite now abandoning his abstinence pledge, Jonas told the Huffington Post yesterday: "I've had an incredibly intense journey with faith and religion and my growth. My belief in God is still very strong and important to me as a person, and I think that's all that should matter.

"The other things around it are not as important to me as my relationship with God."

Jonas explained: "I grew up in a church environment, and I'll always have love for the Church, but what's important to me now in my life is my relationship with God and that I not be judged and that I not judge."